Electric flatiron



June 20, 1939. s MARVlN 2,162,918

ELECTRIC FLATIRON Filed sept. le, 1938 9" 9' 9" gli/L f IT 5 /O INVENTOR. 5mn/LEY MARY/N BY W ATTORNEY.

Patented June 20, 1939 l UNITED STATES ELECTRIC FLATIRON Stanley Marvin, Burlingame, Calif., assignmto ll5. E. Witkin, Oakland, Calii".v

Application September 16, 1938, Serial No. 230,301

s claims. (ci. 21a-z5) This invention relates to electric flat irons as used both in the home as well as in tailor shops, laundries, etc., and the principal object of the invention is to provide improvements in the construction of the heating element and the manner of assembling it in the base or sole plate of the iron. One of the important features of the invention is to provide an easily applied and removed heating unit, yet one which will be in close thermal contact over substantially its entire area when in place. Another feature is to do away with securing or clamping bolts passing through the heating unit or margins thereof. Another feature is a construction which will guard againstthe access of water to the heating element, when used in an electric steaming iron, and for which the invention was principally developed.

Still another feature is to provide a heating unit which may be removed from 4the base of the flat iron without disturbing any other parts, such as controlling thermostats, or removal of the handle of the iron, or opening the body shell. Other features and advantages of the construc- 5 tion will appear inthe following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevation of an electric fiat iron incorporating my improvements, and with a portion broken away to show the heating element in its relation to the base of the iron, the sectional portion being taken as from the line I-I' of Figure 2,.

Figure 2 is a horizontal cross section of the iron of Figure 1 as seen from the line 2 2 thereof.

Figure v3 is a greatly enlarged elevation ,of a portion of the heating element as seen from the line 3-3 of Figure 2. 40 In further detail,l the base or sole plate of the iron is designated I, the main body portion above the base is designated 2, and above this .is a handle 3, all suitably secured together by means not shown, as having no bearing on the present invention, but as the invention has particular' value when used in connection with a "steaming iron", that is, one inv which a controlled amount of water may be generated into steam and projected through small apertures in the base tomoisten the goods being ironed, a water base connection as indicated at 4, a ilow controlling valve at 5., and a nger controlled operating valve at 6, though no details of the internal Water and steam passagesare shown, nor electric heat con- -trol, as they comprise the subject matter of separate co-pending patent applications.

The steamejecting passages in the base oi' the iron are indicated at l, and the electric cord for supplying the heating current at I3. 5

The base portion I of the flat iron is of the conventional exterior shape in plan as indicated s in Figure 2, and is preferably a solid die casting of aluminum alloy or other corrosive resisting metal, and it is formed with a fiat wedge-shaped 10 slot 8 near the lower surface of the base. This slot 8 is open at the rear end of the base only, and in plan is of the general shape of the base I as indicated except that it is widest at the extreme rear end of the base and constantly l5 becoming smaller toward the 'front or pointed end, while in vertical section as shown in Figure 1 it decreases in size witha uniform gentle taper toward itsfront end, and since it has the internal form mentioned it may easily-be die-cast 20 from a metal core so that perfectly smooth walls result.

The electric heating element assembly or unit is formed of corresponding wedge shape so that it may be inserted into the slot 8 from its rear open end, and forced tightly in place as by the tap of a hammer, and thus secure a substantially perfect thermal contact with the base or sole plate Yat both top and bottom of the element over its entire surface. To carry this out I pro- 3Q vide a thin fiat heating element 9 and mount it firmly on a flat wedge-shaped plate I0 preferablyalso a die-casting of non-corrodible alloy y which projects at its margins I0' slightly beyond the outer edges of the heating element, and I 3- also preferably provide a thin smooth sheet metal cover plate Il on top of the heating element to prevent possible abrading of the upper side of the heating element when forcing the assembly into'the wedge-shaped slot.

The heating element proper preferably consists of fiat wire or ribbon resistancecoils 9' wound i on mica or other heat resisting insulator and likewise preferably embeddedin insulating material and covered both sides with mica or other suitable insulating material as at 9".

The parts of the heating element assemblage may be loosely positioned one upon the other, or secured together as by rivets I2 passing through the members at points to avoid the resistance wire. Plate I0 is formed at itsrear end with an upwardly extending wall portion I4 which terminates at the lower face of body portion 2 and also extends rearwardly as a ange I5 which is centrally flattened at I 6 and slotted as at I1 f for the reception of a cap screw I8 which screws into the body portion 2 and/or -handle portion 3 to hold the wedge heating element in place as well as secure the handle at this end if desired.

Forwardly of wall portion I4 the base member I is cut away as at I' to form an opening for accessibility of the heating element electric terminals 20 from above, and the wall I4 is extended forwardly at both ends as at I4'.

One means of securing the base I and body 2 together would be cap screws I9 passing from the body 2 into tapped holes positioned along the margins of the base outward from the wedge slot so as to avoid penetrating the same.

While'I have shown and described a flat wire. mica insulated heating element, this is for illustrative purposes only, and no limitation is to be implied thereby as it is manifest that any desired construction of the heating element itself may be used in carrying out the invention which resides principally in the wedge-shaped assembly, and its cooperating wedge-shaped slot.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An electric at iron having a body provided with a base with a fiat wedge-shaped slot formed therein open at its thick end to the exterior edge of the base, and an electric heating element of fiat wedge form adapted to t within said slot so as to be removable from the edge of the base.

2. An electric flat iron having a body provided with a basewith a flat wedge-shaped slot formed therein open at its thick end to the rear exterior edge of the base, and an electric heating element assembly of flat wedge form adapted to t within said slot soas to be removable from the edge of the base, said heating element assembly including a iiat wedge-shaped metal supporting plate anda heating coil insulatingly mounted thereon.

3. An electric flat iron having a body provided with a base with a iiat wedge-shaped slot formed therein open at its thick end to the rear exterior edge of the base, and an electric heating element assembly of fiat wedge form adapted to t within said slot as to be removable from the edge of the base, said heating element assembly including a` flat Wedge-shaped metal supporting plate and a heating coil insulatingly mounted thereon, and a metal'cover plate.

4. An electric at iron having a body provided with a base with a dat wedge-shaped slot formed therein open at its thick end to the rear exterior edge of the base, and an electric heating element assembly of flat wedge form adapted to iit within said slot so as to be removable from the edge of the base, said heating element assembly including a flat wedge-shaped metal supporting plate and a heating coil insulatingly mounted thereon, said supporting plate provided with an extension flange projecting beyond the base proper and provided With means for securing it in place.

5. In the construction set out in claim 1, both the slot and the heating element being of tapered form in plan as well as wedge-shaped in thickness, and the open end of the slot being at the large end thereof.

6. An electric iat iron having a solid base provided with a tapered hole extending horizontally from its edge well within the body, and a correspondingly tapered electric heating element iitting within said tapered hole in close thermal contact with the walls thereof and being removable from the edge of the base.

7. An electric fiat iron having a solid base provided with a tapered hole extending horizontally from its edge well within the body, and a correspondingly tapered electric heating element tting within said tapered hole in close thermal contact with the Walls thereof and being removable from the edge of the base, said tapered hole being of fiat form extending over a relatively large portion of the area of the base when viewed in plan, and being open at the rear edge of the base for insertion and removal of the tapered element,

8. An electric at iron having a solid base provided with a tapered hole extending horizontally from its edge well Within the body, and a corre'- spond'ngly tapered electric heating element tting within said tapered hole in close thermal contact with the walls thereof and being removable from the edge of the base, said tapered hole being of iiat form extending over a relatively large portion of the area of the base when viewed in plan, and being open at the rear edge of the base for insertion and removal of the tapered element, and said base formed with an opening to the upper side of said element when in place situated adjacent the rear end of the same, for accessibility of its electric terminals from above.

STANLEY MARVIN. 

